Disk-pile lightning arrester



* May-l, 1928. 1,667,873

' J. SLEPIAVN ET AL v I DISK FILE LIGHTNING ARRESTER Filed Nov 25, 1922 INVENTORS.

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2 A'TTORNEY Patented May 1, 19%8.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE-- JOSEPH SLE PIAN, 0F SWISSVALE, AND SOLOMON M. PINELES, OF YITTSBUBGH, PENN-'- SYLVANIA, ASSIGNORS T0 WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA DISK-PILE LIGHTNING ARRESTER.

Application filed November 23, 1922. Serial No. 602,718.

This invention relates to lightning arresters, more particularly to lightning arresters, of the disk-pile type. i

The disk-pile lightning. arrester generally consists of a series or stack of disks or plates of high-resistance material, the thickness of the disks being small relative to the surface area thereof. Adjacent disks are spaced slightly apart to provide gaps across which. a lightning or other abnormal dischar e may pass to relieve the line, to which t e lightning arrester is connected, of the disturbance. Said spacing of the disks may be obtained in a variety of ways, such as providin the adjacent surfaces of the disks with irregularlties or ribs which may be of higher resistance than the body ortion of the disks, said irregularities or ri s serving to hold the major ortions. of the disks in proper relation. T edisks ma be spaced in any other suitable manner, as y thin mica spacers interposed therebetween.

A pile oftwo or more disks of the abovedesignated character is connected to the circuit to be protected by metal end plates 7 which make contact with the end disks of the lightning arrester unit. Upon the passage of a discharge through the assembly, di culty has arisen by reason of the chip ing or shattering of the end disks alon t e surface of contact with the metal p ates, evident-1y resulting, in some way, from the heavy currents passing therethrough being concentrated at a relatively few points of contact at the high spots of the contacting disks and plates.

This invention is designed to overcome the difficulties just mentioned, it being among the objects thereof to provide a means for making electrical contactwith the end dlsks of a lightning arrester which shall efiectively."

prevent chipping or shattering of the same. In practising our invention, we provide Y a series of two or more disks, as above set forth, and form the surfaces of the end.

disks that they make excellent contact with the metal end plates in enfia out therewith, this being accomplishe y coating the surfaces of the end disks with hi hly conducting material by a method whic insures close contact of said coating-with the bodies of the disks. This is accomplished by either electroplating a metal, such as copper, there- .vide means for connecting the unit into the 'said resistance rod does not ing a part hereof and in which like reference characters designate like parts, the single figure is a vertical cross-sectional view of a disk-pile lightning arrester embodying our invention. p

The disks or plates 1 of high-resistance material are spaced slightly apart, b thin mica washers 2. Upon each of the .end members of the seriesof disks, constituting the disk-pile unit, we form a coating 3 of metal by a suitable process, such as electroplatin or spraying. The coating is firmly uni-ted with the surface of the end platesand constitutes an integralportion thereof. Metal end plates 4 are placedin contact with the coatings 3, and suitable conductor leads 5, electrically connected with en'd plates 4, procircuit to be protected.

We are aware that it has beenproposed to provide a rod of resistance materlal with coated ends in order that it ma make good contact with the terminals of t e circuit'in which said rod is inserted. This was done for the purpose of preventing sparkin from the terminal to the rod which gave the resistance of the poor contact instead of the resistance of the rod itself. Furthermore fiashover along the sides of-the resistor rod was liable to occur owing to the cor contact. In'our device, there is no anger of sparking and flashover but the difiiculty consists in the chipping and shattering of the end disks, by reason of heavy currents passing between the metal end plate and the disk in contact therewith. I shattering, unless a coating such as we have described 1s used, cannot be avoided because of the concentrationof the heavy currents at v relatively few points of contact, even though the contact between'said disk and plate is made as perfect as his. Such 'dlfliculty does not arise in t e prior structure, since carry high currents.

Altho we have described our inven-- t1on, settmg forth a. specific embodiment thereof, it is apparent that various modifications may be made This chipping and I therein within theseope thereof. For instance, although wehave mentioned the metal copper as being suitable for the purpose, other metals having good conductivity may be substituted therefor, or even non-metallic materials, such as graphite, may he used. Our invention is not confined to the specific form of disk-pile lightnin arrester here described but other forms thereof may be used in conjunction with the subject matter of this invention.

We claim as our invention:

1. A. disk-pile lightning arrester comprising a stack of disks of high-resistance material, the thickness of the disks being small relative to the surface area thereof, and metallic end plates in contact with the ends of the stack, the arrester being characterized by a. thin metallic coating united with only the outer surface of each of the end disks of the stack, whereby breakage of the disks is materially reduced.

2. A protective device of the disk-pile type comprising at least two very closely spaced electrode plates of high-resistance material, a metallic terminal member for at least one of said plates, means for holding said terminal member against the back surface of said plate, and a coat' of a relatively good conducting material on said back surface, the losposed surfaces of, the gaps between two Jacent electrode plates being of high-resistance material.

In testimony whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our names this 13th day of November, 1922.

JOSEPH SLEPIAN. SOLOMON 1a PINELES. 

